Dagestan Oblast

Summary

The Dagestan Oblast[a] was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Dagestan within the Russian Federation. The Dagestan oblast was created in 1860 out of the territories of the former Caucasian Imamate, bordering the Terek Oblast to the north, the Tiflis Governorate and Zakatal Okrug to the west, the Elizavetpol Governorate to the south, and Baku Governorate to the east. The administrative center of the oblast was Temir-Khan-Shura (present-day Buynaksk).[1]

Dagestan Oblast
Дагестанская область
Coat of arms of Dagestan Oblast
Administrative map of the Dagestan Oblast
Administrative map of the Dagestan Oblast
CountryRussian Empire
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
Established1860
Abolished1921
CapitalTemir-Khan-Shura
(present-day Buynaksk)
Area
 • Total29,709.63 km2 (11,470.95 sq mi)
Highest elevation4,466 m (14,652 ft)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total713,342
 • Density24/km2 (62/sq mi)
 • Urban
9.81%
 • Rural
90.19%

Administrative divisions edit

The districts (okrugs) of the Dagestan oblast in 1917 were as follows:[2][3]

Name Capital Population Area
1897 1916
Avarsky okrug (Аварскій округъ) Khunzakh 37,639 35,749 1,148.27 square versts (1,306.80 km2; 504.56 sq mi)
Andiysky okrug (Андійскій округъ) Botlikh 49,628 57,875 3,152.17 square versts (3,587.37 km2; 1,385.09 sq mi)
Gunibsky okrug (Гунибскій округъ) Gunib 55,899 76,175 3,422.33 square versts (3,894.82 km2; 1,503.80 sq mi)
Darginsky okrug (Даргинскій округъ) Levashi 80,943 85,131 1,525.25 square versts (1,735.83 km2; 670.21 sq mi)
Kazikumukhsky okrug (Казикумухскій округъ) Kumukh 45,363 51,250 1,270.80 square versts (1,446.25 km2; 558.40 sq mi)
Kaytago-Tabasaransky okrug (Кайтаго-Табасаранскій округъ) Madzhalis 91,021 82,154 2,896.54 square versts (3,296.44 km2; 1,272.76 sq mi)
Kyurinsky okrug (Кюринскій округъ) Kasumkent 77,680 117,218 3,066.85 square versts (3,490.27 km2; 1,347.60 sq mi)
Samursky okrug (Самурскій округъ) Akhty 35,633 71,556 3,258.87 square versts (3,708.80 km2; 1,431.97 sq mi)
Temir-Khan-Shurinsky okrug (Темир-Хан-Шуринскій округъ) Temir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk) 97,348 136,234 5,464.01 square versts (6,218.38 km2; 2,400.93 sq mi)

Demographics edit

Russian Empire Census edit

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 571,154 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 283,279 men and 287,875 women. The plurality of the population indicated Avar-Andean to be their mother tongue, with significant Dargin, Kyurin, Kazi-Kumukh, Kumyk, and Tatar[b] speaking minorities.[2]

Linguistic composition of the Dagestan oblast in 1897[2]
Language Native speakers %
Avar-Andean 158,550 27.76
Dargin 121,375 21.25
Kyurin 94,596 16.56
Kazi-Kumukh 76,381 13.37
Kumyk 51,209 8.97
Tatar[b] 32,143 5.63
Russian 13,111 2.30
Jewish 7,361 1.29
Tat 2,998 0.52
Ukrainian 2,895 0.51
Nogai 1,909 0.33
Persian 1,720 0.30
Armenian 1,636 0.29
Polish 1,630 0.29
Arabic 912 0.16
Chechen 757 0.13
Lithuanian 520 0.09
Georgian 375 0.07
German 261 0.05
Belarusian 38 0.01
Other 777 0.14
TOTAL 571,154 100.00
Religious composition of the Dagestan oblast in 1897[6]
Faith Male Female Both
Number %
Muslim 263,475 276,815 540,290 94.60
Eastern Orthodox 10,996 5,341 16,337 2.86
Judaism 5,367 4,689 10,056 1.76
Roman Catholic 2,079 137 2,216 0.39
Armenian Apostolic 955 668 1,623 0.28
Old Believer 184 114 298 0.05
Lutheran 185 100 285 0.05
Armenian Catholic 24 5 29 0.01
Baptist 1 1 2 0.00
Anglican 0 3 3 0.00
Buddhist 3 0 3 0.00
Reformed 3 0 3 0.00
Other non-Christian denomination 7 2 9 0.00
TOTAL 283,279 287,875 571,154 100.00

Kavkazskiy kalendar edit

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 713,342 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 369,737 men and 343,605 women, 659,976 of whom were the permanent population, and 53,366 were temporary residents:[3]

Nationality Urban Rural TOTAL
Number % Number % Number %
North Caucasians 12,247 17.50 533,367 82.90 545,614 76.49
Sunni Muslims[c] 1,137 1.62 90,840 14.12 91,977 12.89
Russians 27,045 38.65 9,078 1.41 36,123 5.06
Jews 11,913 17.03 5,397 0.84 17,310 2.43
Shia Muslims[d] 11,263 16.10 4,352 0.68 15,615 2.19
Armenians 4,668 6.67 84 0.01 4,752 0.67
Other Europeans 736 1.05 251 0.04 987 0.14
Asiatic Christians 785 1.12 0 0.00 785 0.11
Georgians 179 0.26 0 0.00 179 0.03
TOTAL 69,973 100.00 643,369 100.00 713,342 100.00

Notes edit

  1. ^
    • Russian: Дагеста́нская о́бласть, romanizedDagestánskaya óblast
  2. ^ a b Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".[4][5]
  3. ^ Primarily Turco-Tatars.[7]
  4. ^ Primarily Tatars.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Tsutsiev 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru.
  3. ^ a b Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 186–193.
  4. ^ Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
  5. ^ Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
  6. ^ "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  7. ^ a b Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.

Bibliography edit

  • Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520019843.
  • Кавказский календарь на 1913 год [Caucasian calendar for 1913] (in Russian) (68th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1913. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022.
  • Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
  • Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus (PDF). Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300153088. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2023.

42°49′00″N 47°07′00″E / 42.8167°N 47.1167°E / 42.8167; 47.1167